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KUALA LUMPUR: The day before Malaysia enjoyed a high of scoring a surprise win over Hong Kong but yesterday, they crashed to a 0-5 defeat by Japan in the Uber Cup Asian Zone qualifying tournament at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium.

And Wong Mew Choo, who led Malaysia out for their second tie in Group A against the second seeded Japanese, wept openly after she was beaten 6-11, 2-11 by Kanako Yonekura.

The meek performance by the 20-year-old Mew Choo set the tone for Malaysia's defeat.

Except for third singles player, Norsyahliza Baharum, who took a game off Mori Kaori but was handed a duck in the rubber, Malaysia were beaten in all the other matches in straight games.

But all is not lost in their bid to qualify for the Finals on merit for the first time. Malaysia have to win their remaining two ties – against Macau tomorrow and India on Friday – to be in contention for a place in the Finals, which will be played in Jakarta from May 6-17.

Hong Kong, who were beaten 2-3 by Malaysia, can bounce back into contention if they beat Japan in their final tie on Friday.

If Malaysia, Japan and Hong Kong complete their preliminary round ties with one defeat each, the two qualifiers for the Finals from the group will be decided on countback. The other two qualifiers will come from Group B comprising South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

“I hope this defeat by Japan will not dampen the spirit of the team. We are still in the running for a place in the Finals,” said singles chief coach Misbun Sidek.

“The defeat by Japan was expected. I would have been surprised if we had taken a point off them. But Mew Choo could have played much better today.”

Vietnam SEA Games champion Mew Choo was blown apart by Yonekura, who is ranked 10th in the world, in just 33 minutes.

It was sweet revenge for the 28-year-old Yonekura, who was beaten by the Malaysian, ranked 95th in the world, at the Sudirman Cup world mixed team championships in Eindhoven last year.

The defeat and tongue lashing she received from Misbun was painful for Mew Choo and she broke down.

“He (Misbun) was right ... I did not wear my thinking cap and allowed my emotions to get the better of me. I had promised to give a good fight but I played horribly. It certainly affected the mood of the team today,” admitted Mew Choo.

“What made it worse was I played badly on my coach's 44th birthday. If not for Misbun, I would not have won the SEA Games gold. I have improved as a player under his guidance over the last one year.

“It is his birthday today and just look at the way I played ... it's just too much ... I could not help but cry.”

Like Mew Choo, whose defeat was littered by mistakes, Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty wrote the same script in the next match against world number eight Chikako Nakayama-Keiko Yoshitomi. They were beaten 10-15, 4-15.

Woon Sze Mei, who rose to the occasion to put Malaysia on the road to victory against Hong Kong, failed to save the tie for Malaysia.

She found Miho Tanako, who is ranked 14th in the world, too hot to handle. Sze Mei lost the first game 4-11 but sparked off hope with a fighting display in the second game but eventually ran out of steam, surrendering at 8-11.

The Bukit Jalil Sport School (BJSS) youngsters, Ooi Sock Ai-Mooi Hing Yau and Norsyahliza Baharum, gave their best but it was not enough to beat their higher ranked opponents.

Sock Ai-Hing Yau lost 12-15, 6-15 to world No 10 Shizuka Yamamoto-Seiko Yamada while the 17-year-old Norsyahliza went down 1-11, 11-9, 0-1 to world number 16 Mori Kaori.

Said Japan's coach Matsuno Shuji: “We had expected a tough fight from Malaysia after watching them beat Hong Kong the other day. It was a great 5-0 win for us.

“We are not going to do any team a favour. Our aim to become the group champions and Hong Kong can only expect the best from us.”

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